Rayvin

I reckon he says shit like that because it's now part of his 'image'. He can't possibly be that much of a bell end.

He represented the end of our club as we knew it too...

Y'know, I'd forgotten about Siem De Jong... maybe he'll offer us what we need, who knows. When is he due back, must be soon now?

Is that going to preclude us from playing in Europe then? Surely the League would have to take some issue with that...

Must have been utterly horrifying to witness. RIP to those lost and best wishes for those who can be saved.

That is fair play Always liked Milner, seems a down to earth kinda guy.

1 - Buy Cabaye back or some other playmaker who can unlock defences. Would throw the entire budget at this if need be. All £10. 2 - Recall MYM if possible. 3 - Sack John Carver and begin process for revitalising the coaching structure so that the club has quality people in place despite any managerial changes. I would ensure that decision making surrounding who was brought in was not the responsibility of myself; perhaps Graham Carr calling the shots on that one. 4 - Tie Sissoko down to a new contract if at all possible. 5 - Strong challenge for the FA Cup to get the fans back on side.

From the players we have currently, what do we think the style of football would be though? I actually think we're well suited to the counter attack - we have pacey players who can move the ball quickly through midfield and up to the front men. Sissoko is integral to this, which is why our entire system will be in tatters in January when he is sold. Of course, it'd be nice to be able to assert ourselves on teams as an alternative strategy to the counterattacking - Pardew has never really managed this, despite some occasional attractive periods - back in the Cabaye days. If we still had Cabaye as well as the team we have currently, I think we'd be able to find these killer balls to unlock defences after sustained possession based play. It's the inability to do this that means we are so impotent when the other team has men behind the ball, regardless of the 'style' of play.

I just hope it's in the summer rather than January. Our season (such as it is) seems to be harpooned every January. And then we'll have another relegation fight on our hands as we realise that the board were too incompetent to find a suitable replacement.

True enough - it's actually strange how little Sunderland have progressed in that time. I think they've probably gone backwards actually, they were alright for a while under Bruce. We all can agree that Pardew costs us the derbies - at least it's not surprising anyone any more. I'm also pleased that Alnwick didn't do something stupid which meant that Pardew couldn't use him as a scapegoat.

Er... now there's an reasonable response. Are you quite right in the head? This is why people think you're a mackem. Notice how no one else is freaking out about this result? Annoying? Yes. Worth raving about like this was rtg? No.

Agreed, he's been consistently good. I just wish we could organise our forward players into a system that worked to their strengths - all of them.

Pardew's post match interview appears to blame the players for pushing up to try and force the win. This is from the guy who took off our holding midfielder for a third striker to be on the field.

That'll be another Brendan Rodgers ramble about how strong the team spirit is blah blah, so many positives to take from the game, etc...

If Armstrong had squared to Sissoko about 10 minutes before their goal, we would have won. Instead he took the shot on - fair enough, he's a forward and inexperienced. But still, had he been a little more aware, we probably would have won the game. Small margins this time.

Exactly - Pardew will try to claim that he took a risk and that we'd all be singing his praises if it came off, but in reality I'd be sat here thanking the heavens that it didn't occur to Sunderland to break right down the middle. The guy is a fool, I'd think no more of him if that substitution had paid off and Cisse had scored. It was just a stupid substitution.

No benefit or need to put Cisse on, he added nothing whatsoever, and we were attacking well up until that point. Putting him on disrupted our flow and made us more vulnerable. Still, I'm almost numb to this now, so regular it has become. Roll on next week.

Fuck me, caution to the wind from Pardew...

Oh god...I'd forgotten that.

Well, I'd be confident about this game (hope springs eternal) except for the obvious issue of having Alnwick in goal. Who knows what we'll end up with. I suspect Johnson and Larrson will be playing since I think they've some range on their shooting - I'd imagine that will be the main gameplan for the mackems - shoot whenever possible. As for us, impossible to say. On paper we should wipe the floor with them.

So on the one hand, this is exactly the sort of thread he'd love On the other hand, he did add something. There's far less furious debate now, it's just everyone agreeing with each other and CSD attempting to provoke Fish (who I think may have him on ignore judging by the interactions ) Not Ant's fault though, being banned for 12 hours is no biggy - he'd have been back online the next day.

that's actually awesome

John Barnes

Probably goes without saying, but you aren't really comparing like with like for Ben Arfa and Gouffran. Gouffran does track back, and does help out defensively (supposedly). To accurately measure their relative worth, you'd have to consider measuring those stats as well. Pardew might well argue that having Gouffran over Ben Arfa has won the side more points through solid defending. I do of course accept that both players are attackers - and on that basis Ben Arfa is clearly superior - but taken overall for Pardew's style, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Gouffran was a more valuable player to him.

Could renegotiate yet though, his current deal still has 18 months to run and it's not like he'd command a big fee currently. Much more likely to get game time here than at City or Arsenal (who I note are being linked). He can always move to them later and for more money.